IloveBOI From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4931 times:
Everyone,
I just got back from the the Idaho Air Show in the Mountain Home AFB about 40 miles from Boise. The Thunderbirds Jet #6 was going to try to do a loop on takeoff. I was watching in awe. Little did I know that the awe would turn to screams. 80,000 people were watching as the #6 jet attempted to do a loop, when it was too low. The F-16C fighter jet tried to pull up but nothing happened. The pilot ejected right before THE PLANE HIT THE GROUND AND SKIDDED ALONG THE GROUND EXPLODING IN FLAMES AND SMOKE. I repeat #6 jet of the Thunderbirds has crashed at about 3:45 PM on September 14, 2003 during the Airshow at Mountain Home Air Force Base.
The Scary thing is...
I saw the whole thing from the drop to impact to the fire trucks and ambulences.
Luckily, No one was hurt. Pilot Ejected.
If you want me to send you a picture I took, just email me and I'll send it to you.
N766UA From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 7996 posts, RR: 27 Reply 1, posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4759 times:
Are you serious? I didn't see anything in the news...
USAFHummer From United States of America, joined May 2000, 10685 posts, RR: 54 Reply 3, posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4695 times:
Sad news...I think this belongs in the military av. forum though...
Greg
Chief A.net college football stadium self-pic guru
IloveBOI From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4642 times:
btw it might take me a while to send pics I took since I have tons of people who want one. Also, This is a pic a split seconed after the crash. You can still see flames and tons of smoke.
Exitrow From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 4467 times:
They just played the video of the crash on KING5 news here in Seattle. He ejected just in time. A half a second more and he would have bought the farm.
IloveBOI From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 4457 times:
Just got news that the pilot is in the hospital, but he'll be alright. I think it'll be a good idea to post this on a website. This could probably be Idaho's most famous air crash.
IloveBOI From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 12, posted (9 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 4387 times:
This is truly a horrible event to the famous Thunderbirds. For those of you who have seen my photo, I submitted it to Channel 2 and Channel 7 news. I am watching CNN and believe it or not, this is now considered a top story. Even though this was only submitted to Channel 7 and 2, it's possible it could wind up inother news stations, so watch for my photo, and for those of you who haven't seen it yet, watch for a photo with any words marked "Anthony Harding" in them.
Cfalk From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 13, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 4109 times:
I'm glad nobody got hurt.
Does anyone remember the incident in 1981 when practically the whole Thunderbirds team followed-the-leader into the desert floor? Nobody walked away from that one, as I recall.
Flyingbronco05 From United States of America, joined May 2002, 3838 posts, RR: 3 Reply 14, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 4094 times:
watching as the #6 jet attempted to do a loop, when it was too low. The F-16C fighter jet tried to pull up but nothing happened.
Nice try. He didn't crash cause he was too low, he crashed cause his engine failed.
IloveBOI From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 4068 times:
Oh, I'm sorry if I got the facts wrong, BUT I didn't know that at the time this happened. I posted this after I came back because I had just saw it. I had no idea or way of telling that it was too low due to the fact...
A. I was very scared. It was very scary. Btw flyingbronco, have you seen a plane crash? It is almost too scary to think about anything.
B. It just happened and from where I was, it looked too low.
Why do you say "Nice Try"? Do you think I am purposely trying to blame the captain of the plane? Do you think I want him to be fired? No, I don't. I don't see why you think that. I don't want to sound rude, but I, actually thought the way you posted your post FB was rude.
Hamfist From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 614 posts, RR: 4 Reply 16, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 4049 times:
"Does anyone remember the incident in 1981 when practically the whole Thunderbirds team followed-the-leader into the desert floor? Nobody walked away from that one, as I recall."
Not to nitpick too much, but didn't the "diamond crash" happen in 1982? If I recall reading, 4 of the 6 jets were performing a line-abreast loop.
Airforce1995 From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 55 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 4026 times:
The crash into the desert floor, wasn't that the Blue Angles practicing out here in the desert? I know they have a practice airstrip in the desert somewhere. I have been hearing that it was a compressor stall in the engine that caused the crash. They are suppose to perform here at Edwards next month, will they cancel all shows? I heard in a news conference they gave that they would not be flying in formation until the cause was determined. What does that really mean?
Hamfist From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 614 posts, RR: 4 Reply 18, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 4018 times:
Hard to say how many shows will be cancelled. If you recall about 2-3 years ago, the Thunderbirds had a minor incident at Macdill AFB in Tampa when two of the four "diamond" aircraft touched just after takeoff. The pilot deemed at fault was removed from the team and replaced by a recently departed member of the team. The result was about two months of cancelled shows. Coincidentally, the team was returned to show status just in time to make their annual Air Force Academy graduation fly-by!
That suspension was the result of pilot error, so it's understandable that it took time to bring the former pilot back to "show ready". Because this most recent accident looks like it might be attributed to a mechanical failure, it's reasonable to think, because the team has about 10-11 jets, that the team could be flying again soon.
BTW -- The desert crash WAS the Thunderbirds. The only Blue Angels accident I can recall was about 4 years ago near Moody AFB, GA during a practice for the next day's show. Unfortunately, that pilot was killed.
JohnJ From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 1620 posts, RR: 3 Reply 19, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 3996 times:
The desert crash was definitely the Thunderbirds as Hamfist indicated, flying then in T-38 Talons on January 18, 1982. They took a hiatus after the crash and emerged flying the F-16 aircraft that they use to this day.
The Blue Angels crash in Georgia, unfortunately, killed TWO pilots, not one. They had a a crash in 1990 (not a fatality) and another in 1985 in Niagara Falls that killed a pilot. 23 Blue Angels pilots have been killed since the squadron's formation in 1946 - source CNN. I can't find a Thunderbirds crash history online, but I can't recall them crashing since the 1982 disaster.
L-188 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 29352 posts, RR: 62 Reply 20, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 3969 times:
Isn't the Thunderbird desert crash the one where they found a screwdriver floating around inside the avionics bay of the leads aircraft?
OBAMA-WORST PRESIDENT EVER....Even SKOORB would be better.
USAFHummer From United States of America, joined May 2000, 10685 posts, RR: 54 Reply 21, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 3967 times:
The Thunderbirds do have a desert practice facility...Indian Springs AB which is around 50-60 miles north of LAS...
Greg
Chief A.net college football stadium self-pic guru
2912n From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 2013 posts, RR: 9 Reply 22, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 3948 times:
The Blue Angels do their winter training at El Centro, California.
I didn't notice the missing paint until I was editing photos later that night. When I photographed the Blues the day before (Saturday), departing from BFI, none of the aircraft were missing paint. I would suspect if it was due to a ground incident, they would have repainted the a/c overnight. Is there anyway to look up if there was an incident?
I made a note in the remarks field hoping someone in-the-know would e-mail me, but have received nothing so far.
Anyone have a clue? Knowing what attention to detail the Blues have, I can't image they'd let a plane go up looking like that.
L-188 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 29352 posts, RR: 62 Reply 24, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 3825 times:
Ground strike....Doubt it.
You usually don't have ground strikes on the upper surface of the wing.
Other then that..... Somebody here worked on the aircraft it is probably going to be hard to find out.
neat picture though, did you notice now the deflection of the upper aileron makes the whole wingtip look like it is starting to fold up?
OBAMA-WORST PRESIDENT EVER....Even SKOORB would be better.
ExitRow From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 25, posted (9 years 8 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 3839 times:
L-188,
By ground incident I meant more in the way of a taxi bump before departure, not a literal in-flight ground strike. I'd suspect if any part of the aircraft touched the ground when it wasn't supposed to they'd return to the field.
After looking at some other frames from that day, it was the #5 aircraft.
And it didn't have the missing paint on the previous day (Saturday.)
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